By Luke Payne, Feature Writer
The biggest game of the season. Third vs fourth with automatic promotion at stake. The Dons vs Mansfield. No matter how you describe this game, it was a crucial one for both sides. Many would’ve been thinking back to the final day of The Dons’ last promotion season where these two sides faced in similar circumstances and to begin with it looked like Mike Williamson’s men were going to repeat history. However after being unable to hold onto a 1-0 lead, The Dons eventually fell to a 1-4 defeat. With the play-off’s now beckoning, here’s how I rated the players after the devastating loss to Mansfield at Stadium MK:
Formation: 5-4-1/5-2-2-1 (Two holding midfielders and two attacking midfielders)
GK – Michael Kelly – 5: May have conceded four but he was let down massively by his defence for all of them, particularly for the second goal where Kelly’s made a double save and not one defender reacted quickly enough to clear the danger. He made a few other important stops, most notably diving at the feet of former Don Hiram Boateng before the midfielder could get his shot away from just outside the six yard box. Kelly’s long range distribution was fairly disappointing, with most of his passes finding a Mansfield defender rather than the Dons players they were intended for. He did have one slip up early on whilst trying to control the ball, nearly giving away a corner but he recovered well and carried on playing the ball out. Solid yet unspectacular.
RWB – Kyran Lofthouse – 3.5: Lacked composure throughout with the exception of one or two lovely passing moves. Lofthouse’s decision-making was poor to say the least, summed up perfectly by his decision to shoot from long range on one occasion despite having numerous passing options and acres of space to run into. He tried a few crosses over the course of the game but failed to find his teammates with any of them. His best contribution was a passing move he orchestrated in the second half to set up a chance for Ellis Harrison. Lofthouse did little to protect Jack Tucker and is probably fortunate that the only option available to replace him was a more defensive-minded player in Cameron Norman.
RCB – Jack Tucker – 3.5: Had some high highs and some very low lows. Tucker indirectly played a part in Max Dean’s goal with his ball forward forcing former Don Jordan Bowery to try and play the ball back to his keeper. The ball forward was initially meant for Stephen Wearne but the midfielder missed the ball as he tried to flick it on. However, Tucker’s performance went downhill from there. For the first goal he lost track of the goal-scorer Elliott Hewitt though admittedly the ball never should’ve reached him in the first place. The second goal is the most concerning one, not just for Tucker but for the entire defence. He was too busy appealing for a throw-in to notice that Lucas Akins was in a dangerous position right behind him. Mansfield took the throw-in quickly and Akins was able to advance into the box for free, which led to a goalmouth scramble that Davis Keillor-Dunn would eventually score from. This made it 1-2 after 51 minutes. There was little Tucker could’ve done about the third or fourth goal though he did nearly enable a fifth by totally failing to deal with Keillor-Dunn as the Mansfield man sprinted past him on the break. Tucker was fortunate that Warren O’Hora was able to block the shot.
CB – Warren O’Hora – 4: Probably the strongest performer of the back three, though that’s not much of an achievement. O’Hora was the only one alert enough to prevent Lucas Akins from having a free shot on goal in the build-up to the second. The Dons defender made the initial tackle but then didn’t reposition himself back behind the ball for the goalmouth scramble, he just stood there waiting for one of his teammates to clear the danger. The fourth goal was a horror show from O’Hora. He gave the ball away in the middle third, passing directly to Davis Keillor-Dunn before failing to block James Gale’s shot from the resulting break. This made it 1-4 after 90+2 mins. O’Hora also played a hospital ball earlier in the half in the build-up to Hiram Boateng’s major chance. Aside from these freak moments, O’Hora had actually played a solid game, albeit a little slow and cautious in possession at times. With encouragement he did sometimes carry the ball into the opposition half, as did Jack Tucker.
LCB – Dean Lewington (C) – 3: It hurts to say this as a Dons fan, but this might be the beginning of the end for Dean Lewington. He looked slow and lethargic, even by his standards. It may be the case that his injuries have caught up to him and he’s perhaps no longer fit enough to play professional football. He still has the technical ability but his movement was non-existent, something that proved costly for Mansfield’s first goal. Twice in a row he failed to get out quickly towards his man. The second time he was punished for it when he allowed Will Swan to play the ball to Hiram Boateng in the box, who was then able to cut it across goal for Elliott Hewitt who supplied the finish, making it 1-1 after 30 minutes. Lewington’s attempt at defending for the second goal was almost comical, getting shrugged off by Boateng in the goalmouth scramble before failing to react to a loose ball before David Keillor-Dunn three times in the space of about five seconds. He looked good on the ball and in isolated defensive situations where he was able to read the play before it happened but if an opposition player was more than arms width away from Lewington, they didn’t have to worry about the skipper getting anywhere near them. He came off for Ellis Harrison after 70 minutes, with Daniel Harvie moving to left centre-back and Stephen Wearne moving to left wingback to accommodate this change.
LWB – Daniel Harvie – 3: Harvie’s poor run of games continues. He had some good moments in the build-up to attacks, playing the ball around nicely. However, he struggled when taking on his man and he lacked sharpness for a couple of Mansfield’s goals. For the second goal he totally lost sight of the ball when turning away as he tried to block Davis Keillor-Dunn’s initial shot. From there Harvie never managed to get his balance back and he ended up hovering somewhere between the ball and the goal without really doing much. The Scotsman was at fault again for a major Mansfield chance. Harvie stepped up to challenge a counter-attacking Hiram Boateng until Stephen Wearne made to back to help defend. However, Harvie failed to realise that another former Don, George Williams, was running behind him and this enabled Mansfield to break down the right. Fortunately, Keillor-Dunn mis-controlled Williams’ cross in otherwise it would’ve been 1-3 a lot sooner. In the end, the third goal came in a similar fashion to this other chance. James Gale played a through ball for Keillor-Dunn and Harvie totally failed to track the Mansfield attacker, giving Keillor-Dunn a free one-on-one which he easily finished, making it 1-3 after 90 minutes. To make matters worse, Harvie was the only one keeping the Mansfield man onside so his claims of offside were rightly ignored by the officials.
CM – Jack Payne – 6.5: A shout for Top Don. Payne looked sharp on the ball and wasn’t afraid to bring it forward. He worked well alongside Lewis Bate to control the play and the pair put Dons in some fantastic positions with their passing exchanges. Unfortunately, Dons weren’t in much of a shooting mood so most of these attacking positions were wasted. Payne was the only man to properly put his body on the line for Mansfield’s second goal, throwing his body at one of Davis Keillor-Dunns’s efforts. However, the shot hit the post and rebounded straight back to the opposition player, and no-one else bothered putting a foot in before the ball was in the back of the net. Payne was one of the most reliable players on the pitch for Dons but was sacrificed after 79 minutes in favour of Dan Kemp, as Dons looked to commit more players forward in hopes of getting an equaliser.
CM – Lewis Bate – 6: Similarly to Payne, he had a lot of control over the game and his playmaking enabled Dons to advance into the final third plenty of times. He also managed to rotate into a couple of crossing positions, though none of these converted into shots on goal. As the game went on, Mansfield turned the pressure up on the midfield duo. Both Bate and Payne started having to play under a lot more pressure and a couple of mistakes did start to creep in. Bate was in a good position to cover Tucker for the second goal, but just like the centre-back he was too busy appealing for throw-in to bother marking Lucas Akins. He was also another one who stood there watching the goalmouth scramble take place, instead of getting his body between the ball and the goal. Although good on the ball, Bate didn’t seem quite as alert as he usually is defensively.
RAM – Stephen Wearne – 5: In possession Wearne had a decent game. He looked sharp on the ball and was always looking to play forward. He had one shot on goal from the edge of the box that he hit just wide of the target. If we’re being generous, he also played a part in The Dons’ goal by blocking the Mansfield player from getting the ball, not that it was Wearne’s intention as he was looking to flick the ball on but missed it and ended up watching it bounce over his head. Wearne also set up one of Max Dean’s chances with a lovely switch of play, whilst simultaneously getting hacked to the ground by a Mansfield player. With this being said, his defensive work was poor. For Mansfield’s first goal he failed to track Hiram Boateng’s run and he was easily out-muscled when trying to recover. Even whilst playing wingback, Wearne was lazy when it came to tracking back and often let his teammates do the hard work for him, with Max Dean having to sprint back to cover him on one occasion.
LAM – Alex Gilbey – 5: An unusually quiet game from Gilbey. He didn’t seem quite as involved as usual, though he did join in with the defence where he could, making the initial clearance in the build-up to Mansfield’s first goal. His grit, determination and power was perhaps outdone by Mansfield’s midfield, all four of which played with those same attributes, particularly Hiram Boateng. Gilbey was involved in the creation of some of Dons’ best chances including for one of Max Dean’s efforts as well as Ellis Harrison’s chance. He moved into a deeper role when Dan Kemp came on but Gilbey still couldn’t find a way to make an impact.
ST – Max Dean – 7 (TOP DON): Mansfield won this game through their attitude and determination, and the only way Dons could’ve matched them for either of those things would’ve been by having eleven Max Dean’s on the pitch. Right out the gates, Dean had an early chance after beating his man with some great skill, only to wildly send his shot off target from range. However, the young striker kept playing with that urgency and it wasn’t long before he caught Jordan Bowery napping, pickpocketing the striker turned defender as he tried to pass the ball to his keeper. From there Dean darted forward before cutting inside of Aden Flint and hitting the far corner of the goal from the right side of the box, making it 1-0 after 13 minutes. He would go on to have a couple more chances, the best of which ended up being a comfortable save for Christy Pym but Dean kept plugging away. When he wasn’t going for goal he was involved in the build-up play and he played his teammates into some good positions with his passing. He also set up Wearne’s chance. Dean moved into the left attacking midfield role when Ellis Harrison came on.
SUB (ST) – Ellis Harrison – 6: Added a new dimension when he came on, using his strength and height to maximum effect. Harrison’s hold-up play was good and enabled his teammates to get higher up the pitch. He did have one chance on goal that he should’ve done better with but he snatched at Gilbey’s ball across. The ball was bouncing upwards as it reached Harrison and the striker couldn’t tame it, with his effort sailing well clear of the crossbar.
SUB (RAM) – Dan Kemp – 4.5: Kemp put the effort in but he was largely ineffective, with the majority of his passes seeming to get blocked. His performance was summed up by an atrocious free-kick that wouldn’t have looked out of place on a rugby pitch.
TEAM PERFORMANCE – 4: The frustrating thing with this performance is that The Dons had it in their hands and simply collapsed when it mattered most. It’s no coincidence that the three highest pressure games Dons have played this season have all been losses. Firstly the away loss to AFC Wimbledon conceding with the last kick of the game, then the 5-0 defeat away to Stockport and now this home defeat to Mansfield. This team lacks the bottle to perform in the big moments. They’re all capable footballers and all have the physical and technical ability, but they can’t hack it when the pressure’s on. This is a worrying realisation as the play-offs seem inevitable and the peak of high pressure football in the EFL is the play-offs.
For large sections of this game in particular, The Dons did actually look good. They moved the ball about nicely and got into some great positions. However, aside from Max Dean, no-one seemed to have that killer instinct to go for goal and Dean was the only one to force Christy Pym into a save all game. However, despite the attack having some flaws, it’s the defence that was most concerning. The defending for that second goal was shambolic, potentially the worst goal conceded all season. No other team in the EFL would have two players appealing for a throw-in instead of actually marking the man that could easily be through on goal. Further to that, no other team in the EFL would have three players sat in the box waiting for the outcome of a goalmouth scramble instead of charging in to get their bodies in the way. If O’Hora, Bate and Lewington all repositioned themselves properly then that goal never goes in and it’s a different game still at 1-1. After that goal went in The Dons had to commit more bodies forward and were eventually punished for it with Mansfield able to counter-attack twice to truly seal the win, and with it, automatic promotion (Or near enough, they only need one more point from three games).
This team is so good at attacking selflessly. Working teammates into play and making sure they do what’s right for the team instead of themselves. There now has to be that same attitude towards defending. Sometimes it feels likes The Dons attack as a team but defend as a back three, goalkeeper and Lewis Bate. In the case of that second goal against Mansfield, it was defend as Michael Kelly and Jack Payne whilst everyone else goes to the kiosks for a hot dog. The entire attitude towards defending has to change. Everyone has to get stuck in and everyone has to take accountability in the moment, no crying to the officials over decisions they’re not going to change.
The positive side is that the promotion battle isn’t over as the play-offs now call for us once again. Hopefully Joe Tomlinson and Matt Dennis will be fit for it as we’ll still need the entire squad if we’re to get over the line. I want my previous statement about mentality to be proven wrong. I don’t want to hear about how we’re working on it and we’re improving. At this time of the season it’s crunch time, show me what you’ve learnt and take whoever we get in the play-offs to the sword! Before we get to that gauntlet we have the small matter of dealing with Harrogate and Sutton for our final two league games. Hopefully this is where we’ll start to build some momentum back up. Let’s make it count Dons!
If you’ve read this far then thank you! I’d love to hear your thoughts on the game in the comments below and I hope you enjoyed the read!
